THE GOOGLE INVESTOR: Is Google's $3.1B Acquisition Of DoubleClick Working?

GOOG Rises With Recovering Market Stocks opened higher a day after suffering their worst losses in seven months. The boost comes from a drop in first-time applications for unemployment last week. Shares of GOOG are up strong with the rest of tech. Upcoming catalysts include Android momentum on smartphones and tablets; regaining ground in China and pushing into other emerging markets; updated software, adoption and media partners for Google TV; and progress in other newer initiatives (location-based services, mapping, gaming, etc.). The stock trades at approximately 13x Enterprise Value / EBIT, inexpensive relative to historical trading levels and the broader Internet group.

Google AdMob Adds Windows Phone 7 To Mobile Ad Mix (eWeek)Google can never be accused of not being platform agnostic when it comes to online advertising. AdMob has fueled more than 50K mobile applications on Android, iOS and webOS platforms, helping capture an estimated 60% of the mobile ad market. A $1 billion business for Google. It recently added a new platform: Windows Phone 7 in hopes to capture some of the ad market that Microsoft and Nokia drum up in the next few years.

Google And Microsoft Approaching The Groupon Phenomenon Differently (eWeek)Everyone wants a touch of Groupon's magic these days (and who wouldn't at a $25B valuation). Google and Microsoft are approaching it from two different angles. Microsoft added a deals tab to its Bing search engine to let users receive daily discounts to neighborhood businesses which are surfaced from ~200 daily coupon sites aggregated by The Dealmap. Google on the other hand, is testing Google Offers; a prepaid deals program that leverages its large base of local business advertisers.

Was The DoubleClick Acquisition A Success? (Businessweek)Google bought DoubleClick three years ago for $3.1B. Since then, the stock hasn't moved much. That said, the company has noted that display sales were on track to bring in $2.5 billion annually (as of last October). Analysts say the success of the deal is hard to judge because a big chunk of that annual revenue comes from ads that run on YouTube. That business would likely be doing well without DoubleClick. Whether financially it has paid off, it certainly has positioned the company better against the likes of Facebook. Read more at Business Insider.

Could Someone Replace Google As Number One In Search? (weVICTORY)With all the scrutiny that Google is under to clean up search results, could there be another engine out there that has the potential to usurp the giant? After all, company can't stay number one forever (just ask Microsoft). The company has psychological lock-in, but not physical lock-in. So while it would be a long, uphill battle, it's possible. Read comments at Business Insider.